#stop assassinating him for the love of god he's already dead

[tackykachowch]

By the way, did we ever talk about how stupid it is that they made Silco the reason Felicia died? I don't mean that he killed her personally, but that he jumpstarted violence on a peaceful protest. Because that's sooo who Silco is, right? A character who makes impulsive and poorly thought out decisions, right? A character who goes into a fight headstrong without carefully planning his moves and strategy and just YOLO-ing it, right? Right?? ......sigh

And don't even THINK about giving me the whole "wElL hE cHaNgEd SiNcE tHeN dUh" crap. Even s2 is smart enough to show us him writing something in a notebook in a flashback, which implies that he was the brains behind the Lanes' creation/revolution as a whole. And if he was he would never sabotage his own plans with something so stupid as throwing a single molotov at enforcers. Literally who does that???? Silco we know would probably organize an attack under the guise of a peaceful protest, but not just. Straight-up ruining just a regular peaceful protest. That's stupid. And Silco is the last character in arcane that would do something stupid. Literally the whole plot of season 1 relies on him being intelligent and sneaky with his plans are you kidding me.

[raconteur-wanpi]

OK, but really, I'm genuinely so sad this fandom doesn't talk enough about Vinsmoke Reiju. She's legitimately one of my absolute favorite characters in the entire story and a lot of people don't see how absolutely tragic she is.

Just. She had to stay behind. She had to stay behind so Sanji can be free, she could never join him. She can only live her dreams of escaping her horrible, horrible family vicariously through him, the only person left in that household she loved. And she had to let him go. Because if she left, an army would follow behind her to get her back; she's a "success" after all. And also because she had already deemed herself a monster. After Sora died, Sanji was all Reiju had left. And then she was alone. Stuck with them for 13 years. Stuck with the wolves. The only way to survive being to mould herself after them.

From the beginning, it was never slip up, never make a mistake, always be perfect or you're next. Pretend to laugh at the misery of the only person in your family you haven't lost hope in, knowing that he might hate you forever after this, feeling like a coward. But you're a child. A mere child, a little 10-year-old girl, and you're scared. And she already saw herself as unworthy of that freedom at that age. She's not like Sanji, she was born to play the role of a monster. Even with her intact emotions, she's still trained soldier. She has the symbol of Germa tattooed on her, how could she ever escape it? She has blood on her hands; not because of her own choices, but because of the commands she's physically incapable of disobeying. She looks at him and tells him he looks so much like their mother, but she denies to accept that so does she.

She's the firstborn, dad's perfect little girl, his first success, his obedient property. The man who she grew to hate so much, when she found out he was going to be assassinated, she didn't warn him, because she hoped it would actually happen. Even if it meant throwing her own life away as well. When she saw him beg for his life she just, rightfully, felt no guilt or remorse. Just anger and satisfaction, even as she herself was about to die, something that seemed she wanted happen. But when he got attacked later on, she showed concern, because unlike Sanji, to her he still is, dad. He's dad, who held you and called you his wonderful child. He's dad, who raised you and showed pride in you. He's dad, who potentially put some sort of authority chip in your brain and forced you to stain your hands in blood. He's the man who killed your mother. She hates him. She wants him dead. She can't stop seeing him as family, and shows concern when he's hurt. It's more complex than how her brother sees him, and it's visceral and real and upsetting.

She had to stay behind. And after all of that, she had to relive the goodbye to the only person left in her family whom she ever loved. God. I hope she gets to see Sanji again. I hope she escapes. I hope one day she finally gets to taste his cooking. She never got the chance to do that, didn't she?

[aingeal98]

Idk if you wrote about it in the past, but thoughts about a potential Stephcass wedding? How it would play out, what they wear etc. With those women it could be interesting lol

I'd like to see you tackle that in a story if you wanted to, considering you write fanfiction and did a really good job imo with this ship.

OK so I actually have a detailed idea in my head of how stephcass plays out in the future that starts with them getting together, breaking up because Cass grows even more intense in her commitment to the mission once she becomes Batman, and then a year or two later Cass showing up in Steph's apartment with a kid being like hey I rescued this kid from being forced to be a child assassin but his parents are dead and idk what to do pls help.

And Steph is like we haven't talked in five months are you fucking kidding me. But she's not a monster and Cass looks way over her head so the two of them start kind of coparenting this kid because Cass understands the assassin aspect but she has no idea what school supplies a 10 year old might need. And then one thing leads to another and it turns out Cass may actually be worse at this adoption addiction than Bruce is because despite her firm belief that she is not capable of being a good mother she is also unwilling to Not help any child assassin she meets. And often that includes adoption because there is no other family uniquely capable of understanding the trauma these kids are going through.

(Cass meets an alarming amount of child assassins. She doesn't adopt ALL of them because they don't all need that specific type of help. Steph is still mildly concerned and not just because her apartment is getting way too full even though all the kids technically live at the manor and Steph is just a family friend.)

So in my mind they do everything backwards. They're exes then they're coparents then they're kind of rekindling things and then five years after Cass adopts the first kid she's like hey do you want to have a baby together because I didn't think I'd be a good mom but I actually really love helping these kids and I really like doing this with you and I think I'm actually ready to be both Batman and the mother of a baby. I get why Bruce was scared but I'm built different so I simply won't die and this kid will grow up happy and loved and I'll teach it everything I know and you can teach it important life stuff like what the settings on the washing machine actually mean and why certain clothes need dry cleaning.

And Steph is like woah that's a lot to process but Cass babe you have to ask me on a date first. And Cass is like have we not already been dating for a few years now? And Steph is like no showing up on my doorstep with a kid who needs a good meal, a shower and medical attention is not actually a date. Neither is attending those little league games together or patrolling together. If you're going to ask me to have a baby I'm going to need a ring on this finger and you're going to have to work for it.

So they date, and then they get married, and they have a bunch more kids most of whom are adopted or fostered. By the time Cass is forty she has five kids, the oldest of whom she adopted as a 10 year old and is now 21. And she and Steph have been married for five years technically but have been coparenting for eleven.

The wedding itself would be pretty straightforward, if more extravagant than normal. Cass wears a suit and is mildly uncomfortable with having to talk about her feelings in front of an entire audience. Steph wears a dress and can't stop smiling because god she loves this woman so much even though she can be a dumbass sometimes. Especially because she can be a dumbass sometimes actually.

The whole family is there. Bruce cries. Crystal makes snide but deserved comments at him the entire time. Tim was asked by both women to be their best man and almost spiraled into another self destructive slump from trying to process all the emotions he felt about that. In the end Cass takes Babs with Bruce walking her up the aisle and Steph takes Tim, who still looks mildly terrified throughout the entire ceremony, like one wrong move from him is going to bring the entire building down on top of them.

Two of Cass's enemies do show up to try and ruin the wedding but unfortunately for them they end up making it so much better instead because Cass gets to kiss her wife AND punch some bad guys in the face all in the same event. She's having the time of her life. What the hell was Bruce so afraid of this marriage thing is EASY.

(It's not easy. Cass is able to balance the mission and her family better than Bruce but that doesn't mean problems don't exist. The kids are used to at least one fight every six months where Steph basically yells at Cass for all the ways she's been letting Batman responsibilities come between them and Cass is like psh I don't know what you're talking about and then gets her act together because she does in fact know what Steph is talking about. She takes Steph to Themyscira on a vacation as an apology. She doesn't repeat her mistakes but she does make new ones because it turns out there are infinite ways you can mess up when raising kids especially when your work is being Batman and you're never going to stop. Steph messes up too although her mistakes are less to do with work life balance and more to do with hurtful comments made during arguments that she regrets. It's never anything bad enough to break them up again, and for the most part they're shockingly the most healthy and well adjusted pairing of the family. Damian takes great joy in reminding Tim of this fact.)

I've basically just written an abridged version of a very long fanfic idea that exists in my head haha but thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to ramble about this!

[ragnarokhound]

Please please please feed the brain worm you gave me. Jaytim captive prince au is CRAZY and you are so real for reading the books that fast. The chokehold those books had on me oh my god

[first of all, hi! Love your work :D 💕❤️]

Second of all. God. Right?? I alarmed a few of my IRL friends. I read books 1&2 back to back. I stayed up way too late finishing book 2 and had to go to work the next day and all I could think about was getting home to read book 3. Today I read the short story collection. I love them your honor OTL

Laurent reminded me of some of my favorite Tim interpretations every now and then - always having something cutting to say, needing alone time to think and then coming up with not only a new, better plan but setting five other things in motion to support it. Being very reluctantly in love with a man who could very easily kill him who said that

Damen was made in a lab for Me Specifically, and he reminded me of how I like to write Jason too sometimes alskdndks just. Being fed up 24/7 with awful people doing awful things, sassy rejoinders that he simply cannot stop himself from saying. That "too late, sweetheart" early early in the first book was SUCH a Jason moment to me, I could see that bath scene happening SO easily with jaytim skcnfjdkjd

If (IF!!!!) I were gonna write jaytim captive prince style (and not just my gladiator fic lmao), I'd have to change a lot of things around because the setting and politics of it all are so beautifully and importantly about Damen and Laurent lol, and they are not actually 1-1 Jason and Tim.

BUT... Obviously. Tim would be in Laurent's role and Jason would be in Damen's. And obviously Tim's older brother, Dick, would be absent for sad plot reasons. And obviously Jason was betrayed by his mother, Sheila, who sold him to one direction the enemy country of which Tim is the prince. Unclear still what the exact feeling about Jason would be, and if he has anything to do with Dick not being around (or if Dick is even dead at all...!) but what makes captive prince so tasty is that Laurent HATED Damen, and Damen had to hide who he was so he just had to TAKE IT. Which of course means that for whatever reason, Tim hates Jason on sight. And for whatever reason, Jason has to take whatever abuse is thrown his way.

!!!

Oh. Oooooh could be... Okay throw a bunch of stuff out. Could be that Tim is in the court of Ra's al Ghul OwO. Maybe Tim is a foreign prince who's lived there in asylum for some time, and Jason was made a present to Tim because Jason's country was responsible for driving Tim into asylum in the first place OwO.

Still up in the air whether Jason's identity is out in the open or if he's been made a scapegoat just like Damen was. Then you could have a bunch of bouncing off Ra's and Talia and Damian and the friends Tim made in Red Robin among the assassins... And there's the omnipresent danger of Tim being beholden to Ra's court OwO. He's not so much protected as he is a hostage OwO. Just like Damen, Jason was meant to be a taunt for Tim, something to force him into acting out and giving Ra's further leverage.

Basically, this captive prince au would be a surprise Brucequest au, this time with 100% more Jason in skimpy slave boy outfits, having belligerent sexual tension with a skittish, political double-speaking Tim (so. Tim.) (The king is missing. Tim's brother Dick is preparing to be crowned. He doesn't believe Tim's letters that Bruce is alive and that he's going to find him.)

And I'm stopping there. You CANT DO THIS TO ME, werewolf fic is already crying itself to sleep every night while I dally with gladiator fic, okay, I refuse to write this au--

[the WIP tower creaks ominously as it ascends another story]

[ruestheday]

Please expand on your Steph AUs??? I want to know everything????? From reading just those excerpts on that one post I already love your writing and I don’t even know anything about supernatural (we’re in this together Steph, Idk who Dean Winchester either) but I WILL read a crossover fic you write about it

i would love to!!!

this will be the death of me ( crime lord au )

this one was based off of a conversation i had with a friend about the various other ways steph could’ve stopped her dad instead of becoming a vigilante. i thought it was the most interesting.

in this au, steph is a little more morally gray. well, morally gray enough to decide to become a crime lord just to make her dad look stupid. basically one of those “you’ve been trying to be a batman rogue for years and it took me three months to do better”, and then it snowballs out from there. it gets to the point where she’s no longer looking at it as a way to get back at her dad, and an actual way of living.

it’s a crack treated seriously fic, because a lot of it you need to suspend your disbelief. it also has timsteph, because i think the idea of tim dating the girl who’s criminal empire he is trying to topple is funny.

she girl bosses so hard while committing several felonies.

also because she doesn’t have to worry about her secret identity she dyes her hair purple (also to symbolize her spoiler costume in another world). by the end of the fic she will have tried every purple hair dye i can find on google.

imagine being a goon and your boss is some sixteen-year-old girl also concerned about her english essay because she may be a crime lord but she’s a crime lord with an education!!!!

i see dead people ( clairvoyant au )

this one’s more serious but i can’t write just angst to save my life so it still gets silly.

stephanie has been able to see the dead for as long as she can remember, and she’s been helping them since she’d been able to. normally it was small things, like a ghost wanting to make sure her poor Mr. Fluffy was being well taken care of, until she meets the spirit of the once-was robin.

all jason wants is his dad to stop being so violent, but steph isn’t going to walk up to big man batman and tell him Hey, you’re upsetting the spirit of ur dead Robin, stop it, so instead she decides to just take his mind off of it.

they become besties. they hang out constantly. she teaches jason everything she knows about being a ghost. best six months of her life.

until he disappears!!!!

now, the fun thing about ghosts is they’re like little spies. they see everything and they can move faster and further than humans, so they see even more.

the ghosts tell her that jason isn’t just missing, he’s alive. and he’s been taken out of the country.

now normal people might’ve ran straight to the bat, but not steph, she’s got the power of ghost spies and spite, she’s hunting her undead bff down herself. with the help of a freaky little brainiac kid (aka tim drake).

and then she accidentally discovers the league of assassins … oops

the devil knows my name ( prophet au / supernatural crossover )

in supernatural, there are prophets of the lord. they all (seem, we have met two.. well.. it gets complicated) to have different purposes in being prophet. the first one, chuck, writes the "gospel of winchester" which is just the future of the main characters lives. the second prophet, kevin, is the person who translates the word of god.

there can only be one prophet at a time, which would suck for my au, but! but! in a fun plot twist (spoiler warning) chuck actually ends up being god in disguise.

so in the version, steph is the actual prophet that chuck replaced. chuck is still there because he is important, there's just two prophets because god committed identity theft.

this means the au takes place in season four of supernatural, which (spoiler warning) has dean winchester returning from the dead/hell because the biblical apocalypse is about to go down on earth. yeah, i'm throwing batman into the actual biblical apocalypse, where angels and demons are both the bad guys trying to have a grudge match that'll level the earth.

i'm so hyped for it.

[mari-lair]

Good point, but he also made friends with the ants before he knew Kite was dead. But geez, Gon desperately trying to get Killua to remember him mixed with Killua's now very skittish personality...although I do wonder when this would have happened? I guess the first thought that comes to mind would be when Killua almost bleeds to death, but there's several places in the arc you could potentially make it. No matter what though, this is so heartbreaking. Trying to get Kite AND Killua back and feeling so alone...part of me wants to explore it further and the other part wants it as far away from me as possible.

As for the Zoldycks, Alluka was locked up when she was pretty young and they were scared of her because they couldn't control her. They spent years with Killua, and although I don't like the Zoldycks, they would be absolutely heartbroken to realize that Killua was dead. Illumi is rather obsessive about Killua so I think that would seriously affect him (he'd still probably try to control Killua), but I don't see them casting him out. But Gon would fight like hell so they wouldn't take him away. He's not letting them hurt him again, not ever.

What hurts more is that while I imagine Killua does his best in the Ant Gon AU to accept him as a new person (Apo), I feel like Gon wouldn't be able to handle that. His name IS Killua, they used to be best friends, why can't he remember?! He tries to be patient, but he's just so hurt and overwhelmed by everything that's happened. No matter what though, he's not leaving Killua's side again. He won't fail him again, and he'll get his memories back at any cost. There has to be a way, and he won't stop until he's whole again. Or maybe if he changes like Killua did, they can be together again...(oh god, imagining them both as ants together...)

...damn, this hurts. Why would you do this to us? XD

Gon did befriend Meleon before learning Kite is dead but I still can't personally see him targeting ants as a whole cause he always treated them as individuals, being angry when they treated their friends as trash even before Kite's death and choosing to trust Meleon when he was already full of rage from seeing Kite's broken body. I think (?) Melon even mentioned that when he saw Gon, he saw a 'beast' in him.

He also never blames the king/queen or another ant when Kite did die, it's just Pitou, (which split to himself too since Pitou shows compassion and stop being an 'easy' target for gon's hate) from start to finish (sorry for the side track I know it was a minimal thing of your ask but I get too excited when I talk about CA Gon, I will yap about my boy!! yufgytfdyt)

I'll admit I didn't have a specific timeline in mind of when Killua was turned (again the lore is not in my hands) but your idea of him being transformed during the cave breaks my heart. It would have to be an au where the queen somehow didn't die (maybe the king wasn't born prematurily? idk), since only she can birth chimera ants from what I remember, but AUs are all about bending canon and the mental image of Gon never getting the phone call from Killua and slowly realizing people are acting as if he is already dead so he explodes and goes to search for him make me sad... (So i am sharing cause i must spread my pain)

man... I don't even want to think about Gon's mental state, it makes me too sad... I will lose my whimsy and get too focused on this au..

Yes, I agree about the zoldycks! I don't think they would lock up, disown, or ignore ant!killua, they are very tuned to family and indeed love him lots (twisted as said love is), I just don't think they would still want to make him the heir, cause even outside the whole 'non human' thing, Killua is irreparably anxious now. This is not a ploy to try to control him and make him leave Gon to die and become an assassin, is just who he is, and someone that get anxious in the face of power/the unknown is a weakness even to an assassin in big doses. But mentioning Illumi and the family heartbreak does make me realize something! The zolfyck would also want to bring his memory back, and considering the needle, if anyone would be able to get his memories back it would be Illumi. Gon love can make him remember flashes and vague memories (I adore how love make nen do incredible feats in this manga) but getting his whole life forcefully and violently back from start to finish? Illumi is the answer. And he will try to control him too, likely better since he now have both manipulation nen and Killua's memories to use against Ant!Killua.

I really like the idea Gon can't adapt to 'Killua' no longer being Killua. Cause for as sweet as he can be Gon is self-centered as hell so is very on brand, and to make things even worse than the Killua with Apo scenario, ant!Killua (who I don't have a name for so you can come up with one Edit: his name is Lua) is quick to give up, he doesn't want to get into a big argument and make Gon upset and Gon is already very sad (note: Ant!Killua just assumed saying gon is wrong about this would lead to an argument, so in practice they barely reach the talking stage, which just make gon fully confident Killua also wants to be Killua again, so he is more reckless about it and make killua hate it more but gon is doing it for him, and is an endless circle someone pls help them-)

[dragon-susceptible]

TDP Rewatch: S3 E2: The Crown

I am Fucking Exhausted from my week, and watching the show always reinvigorates my creative energy for writing, so let's go.

Callum got the recap voice!

Can we talk about how they put Ezran, this ten year old boy, to bed in the King's Chambers? There's so many rooms in castles like that. He had his own bedroom from being a prince that he could have gone back to for comfort. Instead, because he's king, they put him to bed, let him go sleep, in the room his father died in, violently, like two weeks ago. Oof? Like, okay, as king, realistically, he probably would have moved in there eventually. But after everything he's been through, straight there? Really? Ouch.

Fuck. Ezran taking Harrow's crown out to the same balcony went to think, and talking to his pet the way Harrow talked to Pip that morning.

Callum is So Excited about Xadia, and all the magic everywhere, it's so cute, and Rayla's just as excited about sharing it. I love these kids so much. But also ouch, she's so convinced the other elves will help them get to the Storm Spire faster. She still hasn't put together what they must have assumed when the other assassins didn't come back. Has she even admitted to herself that they're dead yet?

Bless those two guards that play with Ezran at the king's doors. Crossing their polearms and uncrossing them as he moves them. He needed that. That was so cute. The guard to Ez's left (our right, watching), even started smiling too.

Barius and the guards are trying SO HARD to make this kid feel better, and I love them so much for it. The one guard just repeating all of Ezran's questions, and then the other going "The king requests you stop repeating!" "Uhhh. .. ." and then just slumping forward as he admits, "I realized as soon as I said it." Im. I love them so much.

Corvus too! "All packed for your journey to the throne?" and then So Awkward with refusing Ezran's offers of jelly tarts.

Corvus doesn't even look fazed when Opeli scolds him and says he won't be allowed in the council meeting. I 100% think he was just already mentally planning how to sneak in and eavesdrop anyway, and Ezran just made it easier by requesting him. Specifically. Again bless that one guard for joking like "That checks out." after.

Man I have complicated feelings about Opeli. I love her but she hits so many archetypes of people that I hate/things that have hurt me, but gods is she so fucking funny. She's obviously trying so hard to be this dignified, composed woman of the cloth while having a loud temper and being a petty bitch, and I love that for her. The BOOMING for the Crow Lord after her first request didn't work lmao.

wait wait I'm dying, they really just dropped the lore that the Crow Lord's position isn't by royal appointment OR by merit and skated right past it. If the Crow Lord dies, the Crow Master takes his place. What the fuck. Why aren't we talking about this. Who set up this system? Why does it work like that?? This is like if the head of the Postal Department dies Assistant Postal Director took the spot permanently until death. This is being treated like a presidency crossed with a Supreme Court Judge position in US government. If that's how it works, where did the position come from in the first place?? Is that why Crow Master is a lower rank than Crow Lord?

Poor little Ezran's feet don't even touch the ground when he sits in that throne. He has to climb to get in it. And he has to deal with all this shit now.

Bless the "That checks out." guard guy, I love him.

The Melodaisies lmao.

Rayla's such a little shit. "Stop and smell this one!" about the flatu-lillies.

Everyone's bored already dealing with the poor Crow Master waiting for him to find the urgent messages.

Okay okay, so. digs up my notes on the episode where Viren dispatched the assassins. So King Florian and Queen Fareeda are dead. "Andromeda's shade is sent to Del Bar. Ram's is sent to Neolandia. Callisto is sent to Evenere. Skor is sent to Duren." So Andromeda and Callisto succeeded. Ram only managed to "gravely injure" King Ahling. There's no such news of violence from Duren, so Skor outright failed, to a point that Aanya didn't even deem the attack worthy of mention.

Marcos just busting into the throne room announcing the arrest of Soren and Claudia lmao. How did that even go? How did they end up getting arrested? I'm willing to bet that Soren stopped Claudia from putting up a fight, because he just falls to his knees when shoved and can't meet Ezran's eyes - he clearly believes he deserves this (and as much as I love him, he kinda did very much commit crimes, so yeah).

"This must be the biggest tree in the world! What do you call it?" "A tree." I love them.

CLAUDIA WILL YOU SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH. I mean don't, like, you getting justice for your crimes is always something I support, but also HONEY. NOBODY KNEW ABOUT THIS SHIT EXCEPT YOU. YOU'RE KINDA SHOWING YOUR ENTIRE ASS HERE.

Can we talk about how everyone looks shocked Except for Saleer, who's clearly glancing towards the exits? I wonder if he knew. He's the one who ends up siding with Viren later, after all.

This whole situation puts a lot of pressure on Ezran, but damn, Opeli really tried to pressure him there huh. He definitely needed people around him to keep her from overwhelming him.

Mmm. I have a lot of feelings about Soren and Claudia's interactions here. Soren is handling this all so much more maturely than she is, which makes sense to some degree because he's older, but I mean, they're 16 and 18, it's not a huge gap. She responds to his very reasonable resignation by trying to gaslight him, saying oh he must just be stupid, essentially, of course things can't possibly be how he remembers them, but of course it's not his fault that he couldn't understand. Also, she's so quick to tell him this, that he can't possibly be right about killing the princes, even after finding out that oh actually, their dad's ALREADY in jail for treason, and he DID tell her to sacrifice Soren for the egg. At this point, Claudia's story is so fucking tragic, because she wants so badly to have faith in her father that she's blinded to the very real things that are happening around her. As she gets older she just refuses to learn, though, and so my sympathy sort of falls off.

I love how they animated Kasef's walk. I know this walk well. It's the "gym bro who's trying real hard to show off his chest and shoulders" OR "gym bro who's OVERworked his chest and shoulders and now can't hardly move them today". Fits his character very well. Used to see those guys at the gym all the time. I love it.

I literally had to pause in the middle of the meeting with Kasef though because the whole announcement his armies are waiting and calling Viren the regent etc. made me cringe so hard. This would be such a horrifying moment to live through, on the part of every Katolian in the room who wasn't an advocate for war. They haven't even finished dealing with the internal consequences of Viren's actions, and now they have at least one international incident to handle. Also, just the surface level vibes between Kasef and Ezran are rancid.

Fucking Kasef demanding an adult advisor - not even a regent! - to speak with. I love that Corvus and Opeli scowl but don't actually speak, and they let Ezran snap "I'm right here. You can speak with me." He's so strong for such a little kid.

Okay but the fact that Corvus is the one who reacts, and it's not to any of the political shit, it's to Kasef accusing Ezran of failing as a son. I wonder what's going on in his home life. 20 years old, already has a career that's battered him as much as Amaya's in her late 30s, flinches at the idea of failing as a son, and snaps at a prince of a foreign country over it. Also bold enough to do that and then just go yeah I'm Corvus. I was specifically requested. No I don't have a title but fuck you I do what I want.

Also Kasef's face after he says that is hilarious. Just this.

You can just see the wheels turning in his head like. What the fuck does that even mean. That wouldn't fly in my court. Why isn't anyone reacting to that. What the hell are Katolians doing? And then he just takes this deep breath and moves on because how does he even respond to that.

Callum just clinging to Rayla as they ride the seed pod down, gosh that's adorable. And then them both blushing as red as the seed pod over it.

"No one blames you for being a child." is a heavy statement from Opeli. I like that she offers Ezran the possibility of a regent, she doesn't pressure him into it.

Rayla and the adoraburr meadow makes my heart hurt in the best way. She loves this place so much, and she's so excited about sharing it. I love her, I love how excited she is about Callum playing with the adoraburrs.

How often did Harrow stand on that same balcony and think like Ezran's doing?

The fact that Soren smiled when Ezran talked about Harrow as his dad hurts my heart.

Actually, just, the moments each different person smiles hit me. Soren smiles when Ezran talks about Harrow as his dad. Kasef smiles when he says he hasn't been through the things that made Harrow the king he was. Opeli smiles at the very beginning of it all, when Ezran talks about the kind of king Harrow was. And Corvus, Corvus smiles when Ezran says he doesn't have to be the kind of king Harrow was.

"Soren and Claudia will not pay for the mistakes their father made." I love him so much. "Katolis will not go to war. I'm sorry about what happened to your father, and what happened to mine. But we don't have to avenge them. We don't have to strike back. We can choose peace." I love this kid So Much.

I also appreciate Opeli in this moment, because while she clearly has reservations about these choices, she doesn't tell Ezran he's wrong. She just says peace will require as much strength as war - which is a sentiment Harrow echoed in his letter to Callum - and asks if he's prepared for it. And she doesn't argue when he says he is.

Oh also this first credits sketch is Aanya, and given the information we got about the other kingdoms in this episode, especially with the additions we get about magical resources in Duren in Season 7 - I'm betting this sketch is her battling Skor's shade herself. She took him out with Duren's magic arrows. That's why he failed when the others didn't.

Given the Moon Nexus' ability to open the door to the realm of the dead, and for shades of the dead to witness and interact with the living, I kind of want him to see her again. I wonder if he looks back at this human queen from the afterlife and thanks her, knowing she'll never hear it, for stopping him from corrupting his life's purpose in death.

[comically-callous]

I just watched Bullet Train recently and I’m in love. I was wondering if you’re able to write a Lemon x fem!reader where basically Reader is one of those assassins coming on the train (like the wolf and the hornet) while going under the name The spider. But instead of reader trying to kill Ladybug and the twins. The reader is trying to stop them from killing each other but it’s just Reader and lemon bumping into each other a lot and having love at first sight 🤭 and every moment then keep bumping into each other, they just keep falling for the other.

OH MY GOD. I WANT HIM SO BAD...

Lemon x Fem!reader (Bullet Train)

A/n: This one's kind of long as hell, I can't lie. My requests are open (see pinned post for info)

WARNINGS: Cursing. That's it, I think 😛

Why do you always get jobs like this? Jobs where there's some big, fucked up scheme going on, and you have to unfuck the whole thing. You're used to it, but it never gets less annoying.

Whatever. The sooner you get the job done, the sooner you get off this god-damned train.

You entered the train and walked from compartment to compartment, looking for one of your guys. Finally, you walked into a cart where you were immediately greeted by the sound of two British men arguing.

The twins.

You slowed down the pace of your steps as you walked by and tried to subtly look over at them. But, when looking over, you found that one of them was already looking at you.

You should've looked away. But, you couldn't. You'd only ever seen him in pictures, you didn't think he'd be just as good looking in real life. Your eyes locked on to his and time seemed to slow down. You felt your heartbeat quicken and-

"Shit!" You tripped over your own feet after a man bumped into you, not bothering to apologize or even acknowledge the fact that he'd almost knocked you over. You managed to catch yourself, shooting a glare at the man who was already walking into the next compartment.

"Jesus Christ! Fucking asshole didn't even say sorry!"

"Are you alright, love?"

Fuck.

You looked back at the twins and froze up for a second. He was looking right at you. Is it cliche to feel like you could get lost in his eyes? Yes. Yes, it is.

"... I'm fine." You managed to speak before regaining your composure and quickly walking away.

Holy FUCK. That couldn't have been worse.

You were in the luggage compartment, trying to calm yourself down.

For the love of God, you're a grown woman who does illegal shit for a living, WHY are you acting like a middle school girl with a crush?!

While in the middle of scolding yourself, something caught your eye.

Silver briefcase. Train sticker on the handle.

You were surprised that you'd managed to find the thing almost immediately. After a brief check to make sure no one outside of the luggage compartment was watching, you grabbed the briefcase and stuffed it in your bag.

Great. Now all you had to do was stop three grown men from killing each other.

Great.

It had been hours now. Hours without getting off this train. You sort of felt like you were going crazy.

Things were already getting chaotic. The son of the white death was dead, which couldn't be good for the twins. And there was a dead body near the back of the train wearing a bloodied white suit. You didn't even know how that happened.

At least you still had the briefcase.

You were sitting in an empty part of the train, going over the current plan that you had in your head when you heard the doors slide open.

You glanced up and-

Fuck.

One of the twins. The hotter one.

You immediately whipped out your phone and pretended to be busy on it. You thought that if you were focused on something other than the man, he wouldn't acknowledge you. But, of course things couldn't be that simple.

"Excuse me, miss."

Inside your head, you screamed. But, on the outside you casually looked up from your phone.

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen a bloke walking around with a sliver briefcase? Train sticker on the handle?"

You subconsciously brought your bag closer to yourself.

"He's got nerdy glasses, a stupid hat?" The man continued.

You tilted your head innocently. "A silver case?"

"Yeah."

"I don't think I've seen anything like that, sorry. Why do you ask?" This was your current plan: Keep him talking. The longer you kept him talking to you, the longer you'd be able to prevent a fight.

"Oh, uh..." The man trailed off. "He's with me. I've gotta grab something from the case, but he wandered off."

"Oh." You nodded. "I'll be sure to keep a look out. You said there's a train sticker on the handle?"

"Yup."

"Why's that?"

"Well, I put it there so that we'd be able to spot it."

"You just had a train sticker laying around?"

"I like trains." He shrugged.

Keep him talking. "Oh. I do too! My dad was a train conductor. So, I grew up going on a lot of train rides, I really wanted to be a train conductor too, so I learned about pretty much every kind of train you could think of," This was all untrue. You didn't like trains. Your dad was a dentist. But, again, you needed to keep him talking. Now you were just listing different train related topics and waiting for something to stick.

"I watched a lot of Thomas the tank engine-"

"Great show." He interjected.

There it is. "Oh, yeah. I was absolutely obsessed with it when I was little. Did you watch it too?"

"I still watch it."

"Oh?" You chuckled. "Um, yeah. That's-"

"I mean, because it's very nostalgic for me, a very comforting show. Plus, it's better than some shows they're putting out nowadays, y'know? It's got a lesson, it's got good characters, it's-"

He went on rambling. You noticed that he sounded... Nervous? Embarrassed?Flustered? Was he getting flustered while talking to you? Oh. Oh. This changes things.

"I think it's endearing." You said.

"What? Watching Thomas?"

"Yeah." You shrugged. This wasn't necessarily a lie. You did think the fact this man, who was supposed to be intimidating, watched and enjoyed a children's show was quite charming.

"That's... Thank you. I've never had anyone say that about.. You know, watching Thomas the tank engine."

"There's a first time for everything, right?" You smiled.

"Yeah, I suppose there is." He bit the inside of his cheek and averted his gaze away from you momentarily. "I should probably be going now, I've still gotta find my case and-"

He continued talking as you noticed the other guy. The guy the twins thought had killed the son and stolen their case. He seemed to be looking around the luggage compartment, probably for the case that was still stuffed into your bag. You couldn't let the man in front of you see him. Not if you wanted to prevent them fighting each other until they were both black and bruised.

"But, I did enjoy talking to you, so-"

You interrupted the man. "Hey, can I get your number or something?"

He was visibly surprised and was quiet for a second before nodding. "Yes. Yes, I can- I'll give that to you."

You handed him your phone and watched as he punched in his number.

If you were being honest, asking for his number definitely wasn't your last resort. You were actually glad you'd gotten the opportunity to ask, because this guy was very handsome and very charming.

He finished punching in his number. You glanced over to the luggage compartment and the other man was gone.

Thank God.

You looked back to him and smiled. "Thanks. I'll text you later." You promised.

He smiled, a smile you could tell was genuine, and nodded. "I'll look forward to that."

With that he walked away. You sighed in relief and relaxed into your seat. After a moment you looked down at your phone. He'd saved himself in your phone as a train emoji. You couldn't help but smile.

This whole thing was starting to feel less chaotic and-

IS THAT A FUCKING SNAKE?!

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Heart Killers day, woohoo!

Poor baby Bison, he just wants a break from murdering people so he can make out with a tattoo artist, we've all been there!

Oh Style, you nail the chaotic menace energy but you need to be smarter to humble Fadel.

Well you see Kant, in about a year this man is going to have a whole bunch of cats...

Ha, "pain excites me", casual way to bring up your kinks with your prospective boyfriend.

First in grandma glasses was not something I knew I needed until today.

I know Fadel has his reasons for being such a hard ass, but let Bison pet the kitty dammit!

Lol, this is giving me LITA flashbacks.

Oh, all my boys are such little idiots. But I love them all the same.

I love that Style has a whole collection of sports themed crop tops.

Oh god, Style being so extra is hard to watch, but it is very Petruchio-accurate.

This woman is really selling the "I should have insisted on being paid more for this" energy

I do like that we see Fadel is normally quite polite with everyday people. I know that makes him a little less overall shrew-ish, but it also makes him feel a little more well-rounded to me.

Well, hello Dunk & Khaotung chemistry! Y'all are not helping my "let everyone kiss everyone" feelings.

Also adore that Style is just such a natural wingman.

Haha, the competitive bitchiness over Bison, delightful.

Bison: "Ah yes, men fighting over me, this is the natural order of things"

Kant! You can break someone's foot doing that!

Sir, how dare.

Oh these two are gonna kill me.

Also we're gonna get some filthy fics out of this setting, lol.

Oh god, not Bison showing off his sucking powers.

Ok, that line about the mother is a hint that she's probably not bio mom, but something else, right?

Lol, I already know people will be complaining about the dance scene, but I think it's hilarious. Also anyone who grew up with the American teen movies of the 90s knows random dance scenes sometimes just happen.

Please, Jojo, I'm already dead!

Haha, Fadel so wants to look. I love how Joong is playing this. Tiny little cracks starting to show!

I love how shameless Style is.

I like that Fadel is suspicious, because it is sus. He's not stupid. Also I know part of Style's coolness is that he doesn't know Fadel is an assassin, but I kind of think even if he did, he'd still be like this. Fadel is a strong dude with a hand on his throat. He is just that hard to shake. It's such good character work.

Uh, pushing it a little far there Style. But again, that is his character.

The animosity of one couple and the sweetness of the other are so interesting when you consider how both will be flipping at some point.

Damn, Kant, you need to pay this guy more if he willingly let you drop a bowling ball on his foot.

I mean, Fadel may technically be right about everything, but also where's the lie?

Nevermind, Fadel is not right about everything, definitely not gun safety. Stop waving it around!

I do wonder how much of the brothers' conflict comes down to an introvert/extrovert thing. They should watch Monster Next Door.

Ha, I have never seen a man looked so annoyed to be so turned on before. But holy shit, that scene. The pearl-clutchers are gonna be so mad!

Oh this is so much fun!

[calisources]

THE   CW'S   REIGN   SEASON   FOUR   QUOTES.   all   these   sentences   were   taken   from   season   four   of   the   historical   fictional   show,   reign.   change   pronouns,   locations   and   names   as   you   see   fit.   

I'm not looking for a man to love, I'm looking for a weapon to use against her and her throne.

Men forget that women have ears.

My child will be heir to her throne, to both nations. 

Mary, this is a course you cannot step back from. And if you take it, I fear I'm looking at a dead woman.

We all die, Gideon. The question is what we stood for while we lived.

Are you saying that we should marry?

Although I am curious. Have you already named our children? Or did you leave at least that part for me?

Where Knox has sown hatred, we will scatter seeds of hope.

Earn my respect then, as I earn the respect of my men. In combat!

 Duels only lead to dead men, not respect.

Oh really, Lord Darnley? I was unaware that your crushing defeat was an act of charity.

Now, you take your assassin and you get out of our country. Or we will drive you out.

I want you to tell me why you keep pushing me away. I'm going to be your husband!

I had a husband! And I loved him and he was murdered in cold blood before my eyes.

As King and Queen, our lives will always be in peril.

 We're going to be in danger no matter whether we're together or not. Because of who we are, Mary. Because of our blood.

You will be my husband in name only. And we will never be happy. And I will never forgive you.

It is my duty, my God-given birthright and my crown. And I will defend it from anyone who attempts to take it.

I had hoped that our marriage would be a partnership in every way. 

I will be a true King. And we will finally be equals.

We are married because I couldn't take England without you. What makes you think that you can take England without me?

He will hang. And I will enjoy watching him die. 

Men will never willingly bow to the weaker sex.

And they will suffer greatly for it.

The Prince of Spain came to France whole, and left with an enormous piece of wood sticking out of his skull.

A daughter joining her mother for an evening stroll is hardly a crime.

Why, Claude, how nice of you to take time away from your grief to criticize me.

You'll take what under advisement? What, you're just going to mouth kingly words?!

The only monster in this castle is gossip. And we must not feed it, or it will bring us to our knees.

I should have your entire family burned at the stake.

You think that political manipulation and poisoning are my only skill?

When one Valois is weakened, the entire line is threatened.

Tell your son to come to court. Or I will have him dragged here. On his knees.

I will not be remembered as the queen that drew first blood.

 She wasn't your friend, Elizabeth, she was your prisoner. What a grotesque curse of royalty that you cannot even tell the difference.

A royal marriage gives one political clout.

Mary, revenge is not meant to ease pain. It is meant to balance the scales.

I've missed you. Perhaps that's reason enough for you to stop being an ass and stay for the party.

What? I-I can't. You and I are married. Until death do us part.

I lost both the man I love and the man I could have loved.

 My family has royal blood in our veins. 

Trust is given, but loyalty is earned. And you, my queen, have not earned mine.

He does have his father's history to overcome. You knew that when you chose him.

I am married to the most powerful man in the world, and I will not be threatened by my damaged brother who is unfit to rule. 

I suppose there's nothing to be done... Except stay for the King's wedding.

Because being married to a woman who is in love with another isn't exactly the ideal union I dreamed of either.

[silverynight]

Dead End

<---Previous

Part XXII

It doesn't matter how much he tells them it'll hurt him to be left behind, for them to come up with a plan without him, knowing they will be risking their lives for him; none of them change their minds.

Sanemi stays in another room with him; Tanjirou knows he's also keeping an eye on him and is there just to make sure he doesn't listen to anything. They'll probably explain everything to him after they're done and Tanjirou is asleep.

"Why won't you let me help?" Tanjirou asks again and even though he kinda knows the answer already, he refuses to stay there without doing anything.

Sanemi is not usually very gentle when it comes to words, but Tanjirou likes his honesty; no matter how painful is what he has to say, he'll say it because it's the truth.

"Tanjirou, this is dangerous. Kibutsuji is cruel and has been our enemy for a while now," he tries to explain as he puts his hands on the redhead's shoulders. "I don't like to admit it, but he's powerful and he knows how to use his assassins in a very effective way. We all want to defeat him and live, but there's a high chance that some of us will die and we don't want that happening to you."

Tanjirou starts sobbing and he doesn't even bother to wipe the tears off. He shakes his head, unconsciously rejecting that horrible scenario.

"I don't want you to die!" He says desperately as if saying it out loud could help somehow.

Sanemi pulls him into his arms, making an effort to comfort him, even though he's usually not that good at it.

"If you die, the remaining of us will no longer want to live. But if you live, I'm sure you'll take care of the ones who are lucky enough to stay alive and will make them happy, even if it tears you apart to lose some of us."

"But..." Tanjirou wants to keep arguing, he wants to tell him how much he wants them all to live with him, to marry him...

He should've done that when he had the chance.

"Maybe if you let Muzan take me, you can leave and protect Nezuko and the others, you can–"

Despite Sanemi covering his mouth in a very gentle way, he looks angry. Tanjirou is not sure if he's angry at the scenario or at him for suggesting it; probably both.

He looks like he wants to say a lot of things and maybe curse Tanjirou a bit, but instead he closes his eyes, pinches the bridge of his nose and kisses his forehead after a couple of seconds.

"We can't live without you."

Tanjirou usually finds endearing how much they love him, but right now it occurs to him that maybe loving him is not only the thing that's causing them trouble, but also exactly what's putting them in danger.

"I love you too," he mumbles instead, feeling as the despair comes back to him in waves.

He still lets Sanemi pull him even closer and kiss him on the lips. That's one of the things he should do more often: he should kiss them.

Tanjirou sighs, silently praying the gods to take care of his Pillars.

To keep them safe.

***

When Mitsuri tells them they can finally get out, Tanjirou finds all his Pillars waiting for him. Akaza is watching everything from a corner, with some kind of longing in his eyes.

Then Gyomei takes a couple of steps closer and kneels in front of him; all his hashira do the same so Tanjirou knows what's about to happen.

He takes one of his hands and kisses it with so much adoration it makes Tanjirou tear up; he knows what it means.

"I'm leaving, Tanjirou."

"Where are you going?" The redhead asks, not even bothering to hide his sobs.

"You know I can't tell you, my love."

Tanjirou bites his bottom lip, but the tears do not stop escaping from his eyes; Gyomei is probably going to look for one of Muzan's assassins.

The number one. The most dangerous.

"Are you going alone?"

"Akaza is going to guide me, but up to a certain point, I'm on my own, yes."

"But–"

"I cannot explain it to you right now, but we have agreed this is for the best," Gyomei cuts him off, hand reaching out to him.

Tanjirou notices that Shinobu takes Sanemi aside, probably to tell him about the plan. He leans closer to Gyomei so the hashira can touch his cheek. He uses his thumb to wipe the tears off his face.

With another sob, Tanjirou moves forward, almost jumping into the hashira's arms and starts kissing him all over the face until he finds his lips.

Gyomei kisses him back with a passion that is not very usual in him, but that Tanjirou likes. He feels tiny as the Pillar's huge hand cradles the back of his head and the other one grabs him by the waist.

"Trying to convince me to stay?" Gyomei mumbles against Tanjirou's lips with amusement.

"Is it working?"

The Pillar smiles and kisses Tanjirou's neck and cheeks before giving him another breathtaking kiss on the lips again.

"It would work," he mumbles after a while. "Under any other circumstances. But not now, I'm afraid. This is important."

He rises from the ground with Tanjirou still in his arms and gently hands him to Giyuu, who squeezes Tanjirou softly against his chest, knowing the redhead needs to be comforted.

"I'll do my best to come back to you, Tanjirou."

"Please," Tanjirou begs, voice shaky because of the emotional pain he feels.

Suddenly, he notices Akaza, ready to leave too and jumps from Giyuu's arms to give him a hug.

"Take care of yourself too," Tanjirou whispers over Akaza's shoulder, noticing the way the young man freezes right before hugging him back. "Hakuji."

When he takes a couple of steps back, he notices that Akaza's cheeks are slightly pink now, he looks flustered, but happy at the same time.

Then they both leave and Tanjirou feels like his heart breaks a little.

"Why don't we cook something?" Mitsuri suggests, noticing Tanjirou's sadness. "I'm starving!"

Tanjirou nods and goes into the kitchen with Obanai, Tengen and Sanemi while the others wait. It actually helps him relax somewhat.

Then they all kneel around a small table and eat for a while; Tanjirou can't help but chuckle when he watches Kyojuro and Mitsuri eat with enthusiasm.

Muichiro leans closer to him and puts his head over Tanjirou's shoulder, Giyuu is arguing about something with Shinobu, while Tengen tells them about his wives, Sanemi rolls his eyes and Obanai takes one of Tanjirou's hands while using the other to clean Mitsuri's face.

Tanjirou closes his eyes for a second and pretends they're back in the butterfly estate; Muzan doesn't exist and they're waiting for Gyomei because he's running late from work. Nezuko and his friends are in the backyard, having fun too watching the starry sky.

Kyojuro places Tanjirou on his lap and he leans against his broad chest as Muichiro complains because he wants to be near him too.

For a second they're happy and not in danger; Tanjirou will get married to them in a couple of months and they'll live together without having to worry about anything else ever again.

It makes him happy, even if it's not real.

When he opens his eyes, Giyuu leans to kiss him on the tip of the nose, perhaps feeling his concern again.

He prays to every god that Gyomei comes back to him safe and sound.

***

Next--->

Patreon

[rezonan]

Would the Bat-Clan/Family really be better off without Bruce?

You know. I often hear the critism that Batman raises child soliders or whatever and I happily.... Agree, I mean it's obviously what they are. Kid vigilantes are something that should have become extinct in comics since the 70s but DC kept them. I don't really care cause I love them so much and I don't like to push realism into comics in a world where aliens exist and vigilantes actually work as a method to bring Peace.

What I'm hear to argue about was that Bruce was probably a GOOD(kinda?) thing for them honestly. So let's imagine a world where Batman faced with the opportunity to take in any of these kids as Vigilantes and give them training and tech/supplies refuses or just ignores them or just never even meets them.

You have

Dick - who tried to hunt down Tony Zucco by himself

Barbara - had gone out as Batgirl on her own

Jason - lived on the streets in Gotham, we meet him trying to steal Batman's tires.

Tim - followed Batman and Robin around with a camera for years before being Robin

Damian and Cassandra - both trained assassins since birth

Stephanie - was already already a vigilante before Batman took her in and is the daughter of Cluemaster

Duke - was a member of the Robins gang that tried to keep the piece during Batman's absence.

Leaving out Batwoman and Huntress because I have yet to read through thier stuff(forgive me). Will get there eventually though

Right of the Bat(Pun intended)

Dick is likely dead, let's be real. No 10 to 13 year old is taking down a small gang of criminals without training outside acrobatics. In some versions even his father who had the same exact training plus actual muscle couldn't take them down.

Jason is a 50/50 there is a big chance that he becomes either another criminal in the endless see of early Gotham or a vigilante protecting crime alley and die eventually either way. Sadly there's a bug chance he becomes one of those faceless mooks Bruce punches every now and then. You could argue this is a better fate than his time as Robin and Red Hood but I disagree

Tim probably has the best ending here. He could literally just stop following Batman and have a completely normal life. That or he dies eventually following Batman around.

Barbara has police self defense training and is insanely smart. I actually genuinely think there is a solid chance she survives her time as a vigilante if she plays it safe and picks her battles. Heck if she survives long enough she could even hook up with Huntress or something.

Damian if Bruce rejected him and with no Dick in this world. Not only doesn't become a Robin but either goed back with his mother to satu with the league or becomes a sorta frank Castle style vigilante trying to prove himself to his father.

Cassandra is interesting. Not exactly sure but I think she has a chance to be picked up by some other hero out there that or she straight up gets found by her dad or mom. But if this was a connected world kind thing she probably gets picked up by Huntress and Barbara maybe?

Stephanie imo doesn't last particularly long without sufficient training. Good chance of her dying in a similar way to war games actually (god I hate that story). Again if you see this as a whole world, she probably gets picked up by Huntress and Barbara too.

Duke unless he gets his metahuman ability is pretty surely gonna die eventually. I know the least about him so not much to say here.

I'm incredibly open to arguments against my opinions tho. But I genuinely think Bruce did more good than bad here. Especially with Dick. Who while being dead would never be able to reform Damian or help Bruce chill out during those early years. To talk about how his death would affect stuff like the titans and the wider DC universe.

Damn maybe the guys who say he's the heart of the DC universe have a point.

[bittrlys]

THE GOOD

Viren and Harrow scene

CRAB SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Young Viren

Viren selfcest (<- stream of consciousness note that I stand by, he needs to learn to love himself)

Aaravos and Viren had a baby <3 (I like that this twist about the child to save him only works for people who weren't already joking about this being their lovechild all last season)

The heavyhanded diaogue is lol but its nice to see Viren's internal journey ("DAD I'M FOLLOWING IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS" guys you really could have just shown that. But I guess Viren is literal even with his metaphors. I forgive him.)

Viren zoned the fuck out half the season still the best part of the show. But like I love the sense of crushing realization and weight of his thoughts. King of thinking <3

Nice to see Claudia also getting to do cool complicated things

Viren and Claudia literally carry the dramatic weight of the series on their shoulders -tm my friend

I appreciate that Terry continues to be down to clown

This blood elf assassin is hot ♥

I like the water elf design the coral horns are cool (and he looks like a Critical Role character)

I always love pirate towns so that's cool! And some brief actual intense stakes with the pirate captain.

Aaravos. FULL STOP. Like 10 lines of dialogue and he served with them all!

"If you see Claudia again tell her I said ..... hi" hahaa

THE BAD

The Rayllum (what was Callum even apologizing for?? Rayla just genuinely does not seem to like him.)

Janai immediately pivots in her belief because only villains are allowed to stick by their reasonable positions which oppose the desires of the main characters

Again, what changed Tidebound Tina's perspective and made her help them??? Characters will truly just change perspectives in a second if they're meant to be 'good' and not defy the main characters

Ezran is so entitled. Rayla is like oh this boat is a bad idea he's immediately like "WE NEED THAT ONE!" and then proceeds to get them all nearly murdered by pirates for some tadpoles and does not apologize at all.

That being said it seems the show just isn't that interested in Ezran or Rayla

Would it have killed them to include a scene showing why Rayla decides to show up and save the day in finale? She has no arc.

I understand the conclusion that Callum came to with ocean magic but I don't believe his process of getting there.

Can Janai do her damn job all she's ever shown doing is hanging out in her pyjamas pining and being in love. Tied with Zubeia who just hangs about talking about her husband and son all day.

THE UGLY

STOP WITH THIS DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS SHIT (why would the Archdragon of the Ocean give a damn about a human ruler? But like Oh! We Have To Respect A King!)

They show up to the library with only FIVE HOURS TO SUNSET instead of idk camping outside the city until the next dawn and coming in then. And then leave directly at sunset instead of giving themselves like an hour of wiggle room. Unreal!

They can't even let these entitled main characters even THINK Amaya died for their arrogance Like they can't even feel guilt about it for five seconds.

What's the point of having a deus ex machina dragon you insert in every scene to save their asses (god I need Zubeia dead) if she's just going to stand there and do literally nothing while Amaya is attacked. Rewatch that scene camera never cuts to Zubeia's face to even show her idk considering it? Being unable to help? Just get rid of this dragon already she weakens the plot to an absurd degree.

Zubeia surviving. Full stop.

Thunder killed off this group of elves for the crime of uhhhh doing weird blood rituals? Moonshadow elves (Thunder's personal hit squad) do blood rituals. Thunder just loves massacring any group of people who defy his tyranny.

It's surreal that Xadians NEVER comment on the humans in their midst like the show will not draw attention to the fact that humans are othered + marginalized. It perpetually feels like the writers are backtracking on lore they previously established because they don't want to make Xadians look bad.

Like I can believe a criminal port is full of all elements but this happens elsewhere in Xadia. Even the Archdragon of Ocean doesn't address the fact that Ezran is a human.

But it's not like the differences between humans and Xadians aren't noted because humans (like Amaya) still have to constantly grovel for Xadian approval + forgiveness. Like for WHAT. Should Amaya have to apologize to Rayla anymore than Rayla should apologize for coming to assassinate a 10-year-old Ezran in season 1?

for fucking tadpoles?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Callum, Rayla, and Ezran are UNSYMPATHETIC protagonists they literally will never face any consequences for any of their actions. Nothing really goes wrong for them -- they're always saved from trouble and they get everything ultimately handed them. They are supremely privileged, entitled people. Meanwhile Viren and Claudia go through 19 layers of hell just trying to get 1 thing done.

Overall I'd say it was better than season 4! 👍👍👍

[unicornachos2]

1. The state Beloved is in.... There are no words I'm truly. I'm so upset. They let themselves be tortured for a while without contacting Fitz BC they thought they deserved it after what they'd put Fitz through but I'm like. I WANT TO SHAKE HIM YOU IDIOT all the horrible things Fitz always went through were because of horrible people and the love Beloved has given him has literally allowed Fitz to live a life despite his many traumas...... Seeing them so off-kilter and damaged and desperate hurt me so much The Skill being taken from his fingertips and the slow years and years of torture I'm just. At this point I think Beloved actually gets The Most Trauma Award. Which is a lot seeing these books are mostly about FitzChivalry Farseer. The part where they both get into bed and just lay there...... I'm crying. I think about how Fitz has people in his life who know him, and have known him his whole life, that while he knows he can't often ask for things with zero strings attached, he still has a good amount of people he can ask for help if he needs it. And Beloved has just been going through their life, their WHOLE life, without any of that. They go to Fitz because he's the only person they have ever fully trusted and feels safe with and it kills me tbh

2. Revel you will always be famous I will love you forever perfect perfect man I miss him already I'm sO UPSET

3. Nighteyes appearing to Bee in her dreams and her desperately hugging Beloved's carving of him... She's so painfully lonely my dAUGHTER I love her so so much

4. Idk if Lant is Actually Dead or just bleeding out and still alive but I'm not overly mad about it bc of the way he treated Bee lmfao

5. This book was insane to me. It was like reading 500 pages of regency novel and then 100 pages of the worst tragedy you've read in your life like what the FUCK I have WHIPLASH

6. It's interesting to me how both Nettle and Bee both seem to have interacted with Nighteyes in dreams, and how Nettle and Bee are both connected to the power of dreams but just in different ways, and I really hope the specific brand of dreaming magic they have will come up in future

7. Why were there no dragons in this book like I expect ONE to have flown through and eaten a sheep or two. WHAT ARE THEY DOING

8. If no one sicks a dragon, not just Fitz alone, on the Servants I'll be so mad. These people need acid spat at them STAT. Get Spit to go and let him let loose istg. I WANT MORE DRAGONS!!!!!!

9. Why was Shun SUCH an asshole this ENTIRE book like there are moments when she's actually comedy gold bc of just how unlikeable she is, like Starling style shit. But I can't abide by the way she treats Bee and it stops being funny and I'm sitting here wondering @ Robin Hobb just What is the purpose of making her Like This™. Like I get that she has abandonment issues and she's been through a rough time but MY GOD give her one single positive trait!!!!! I am literally begging you!!!!! I want to like her but it's fucking impossible!!!!!!!

10. Bee was so obviously the Prophecy Child like as soon as it was mentioned it was clear.... Put it together Fitz what are you Doing. Use your brain!!!!

11. Beloved describing Fitz as being "good at his job" as an assassin almost made me crack up laughing. Like I'm sorry Beloved I think your love for Fitz is clouding your opinion here honey

12. In fact, Fitz was literally the worst assassin ever, AND he was only an assassin for like. 5 or 6 years of his life, max? Then all he did was go on various quests doing protag shit. They really make a big deal of the assassin shit in this book, but I'm like. Robin Hobb did you re-read your own books before writing this one. Bc being an assassin was a far smaller part of Fitz's life. Fitz had spent more time before the age of 35 being a farmer than being an assassin lmfao. That man exists on pure vibes and berserker rage. Why does everyone think he's good at this when he's done, not 1, not 2, but 5 public berserker rage murders and failed so badly at a botched attempt on Regal's life that he needed to jump out a window to escape

[whispersinthedawn]

Concealed in the Coriolis ch 3

“Is this ... an assassination attempt?” the voice of the priest asked from behind him, sounding bemused.

Abruptly, rage filled Percy’s veins. The man had just watched Percy attack someone unprovoked and hadn’t even attempted to help – merely stood by as an indifferent observer unrelated to the happenings.

Percy whirled around. “Why, are you important?” he sneered.

He crawled a threatening inch closer to the man, willing to claw at his face and leave him as disfigured as the putrid nature of his soul if he wouldn’t lift a single finger to help a woman possibly dying right in front of him.

Lee would have never allowed any of this. This man didn’t deserve to share any resemblance to a boy who had unflinchingly rushed into battle with giants even knowing the consequences, who had once poured all his energies into healing a demigod until forcefully dragged away because the body in front of him had long since gone cold.

Galene could be slipping beyond the Styx. She could be dying inch by inch that very moment, even her sluggishly flowing blood not enough to rejuvenate cells deprived of oxygen for too long.

The priest didn’t even glance at Galene.

“I am Apollonius!” the priest growled out, flapping his cloak so that the winglike protrusions on it flared into view.

“Of Rhodes?” Percy scorned. “Because that’s the only Apollonius worth remembering.”

And that in itself was a comment about his lack of remarkableness since all Percy could recall was that Annabeth both admired and resented the man. Something about a talented poet with a habit of choosing deplorable topics on which to compose a poem. 

History would just have to make do with one less epic poet if this priest was Apollonius of Rhodes.

Apollonius barked a sharp laugh full of rage. “Do you think your status as a princess will protect you from my wrath?” he hissed. “You, who have already proven your inability to recognise your family, displayed a callous willingness to kill trusted retainers, and have fortuitously removed any witnesses from the room? Who is to gainsay me if I were to say you attacked me?”

The Iliad’s beginning ran through Percy’s mind. Sing, oh goddess, of Achilles’s rage. The tale of animosity between Achilles and Agamemnon, two of the greatest Greek warriors – and yet, was the anger of Achilles not incited by Apollo when he set plague loose on the Greeks? All because of a love for his priest, who failed to ransom his daughter from Agamemnon.

The God of Truth might discern the truth of his priest’s falsehoods, but who would dare risk divine wrath by harbouring someone who would harm a priest?

Percy clenched his teeth together, fuming, heartsore, but with the faint flickers of cold reason cooling his impetuousness. “She is not dead,” he said stiffly. “You may check for yourself.”

‘Not due to your lack of trying!’ Coronis accused him.

“I didn’t try to kill her!” Percy shouted at her.

He hadn’t, he hadn’t. Why couldn’t she just understand that and stop transmitting hatred, panic, and rage at him? Didn't she know he couldn’t think with her emotions running rampant through his head?

A moment of silence before Apollonius asked, “Who are you talking to?”

Coronis’s silver, translucent eyes widened. ‘Can you see me?’ she asked the priest.

Percy experienced a moment of mingled hope and terror, but Apollonius just studied him with cold calculation in his eyes. 

“Someone ...” Percy started before pausing. What guarantee did he have that this priest was not a gingerbread house built to conceal the cauldron to boil his flesh? Simply because he invoked a trust and longing that rightfully belonged to Lee? Was that not a tally against the sincerity of this illusion?

Someone who reminded Percy so acutely of Lee might as well have been built with the son of Apollo as the template. And Ixion – couldn’t that be the Triton Percy had hoped for in fanciful dreams he’d nonetheless half-convinced himself to be prophetic instead of the stiff, resentful merman who’d confronted him in Atlantis instead? There was even something of a resemblance.

Phlegyas – Phlegyas might as well be a Poseidon who had foresworn his wife and the gates of Olympus, or a kind-faced Paul who had raised Percy. And Cleophema the version of Sally who had never ruined her life to protect Percy’s, who had never torn apart every shred of her happiness to chain herself to Gabe and wasted her youth for Percy, who was queen of a prosperous kingdom, had a Muse for a mother who’d bless all her literary leanings, and a husband who’d stand by her side.

“You’re just an illusion,” Percy breathed out in relief. “You’re not real.”

‘You’re delusional,’ Coronis whispered in horror. ‘You don’t even think we’re real. None of us – you're going to just kill everyone because we aren’t alive in the first place.’

“Just because you’re not real doesn’t mean I’m going to kill everyone,” Percy protested. He wasn’t – he hadn’t even tried to kill Galene. Merely remove her from the way with the means at his disposal. Or would Coronis have preferred that he crack Galene’s head open just like her own had been?

Percy swayed with dizziness.

But Coronis wasn’t real either.

“Can you sit down, dear?” Apollonius asked softly, eyes pinched in wariness. “You look like you’re in pain.”

‘Don’t be taken in by him!’ Coronis shouted in warning. ‘He’s going to hurt you too!’

“I’m not going to hurt him,” Percy snapped, losing his temper. He wasn’t a monster lashing out indiscriminately at everyone around him. This was the priest he’d planned to obtain aid from.

But whatever glimpse of his intentions Coronis received from the river flooding their two banks instilled the deepest panic in her.

She rose to her feet, the caved-in side of her head with its matted strands on full display, and flung herself at Apollonius, shrieking, ‘You have to leave.’

She passed straight through the priest and crashed onto the floor behind him but Apollonius ... froze.

“What was that?” he breathed out, lips barely moving.

Percy stared at the spooked priest in shock. Had ... had he felt Coronis? Had a figment of Percy’s imagination experienced the healing rush, the cooling breeze, the eerie intermingling, with another figment of Percy’s imagination?

A crack appeared in the wall around Percy’s mind that he frantically shored up with wet sand and limp hopes.

“Did you feel something?” Percy asked in Coronis’s tiny voice.

Apollonius trembled.

Tentatively, uncertain yet unable to abandon all hope, Coronis swiped a hand through Apollonius’s bare calf.

This time the reaction was more prominent. Apollonius shivered and swivelled around in a panic, but try as he might, his wildly darting eyes failed to find anything. He backed towards the wall, suspicion settling into harsh lines on his face.

“What are you?” he demanded.

‘I’m Coronis,’ the dead spirit on the floor cried out.

“I’m,” Percy tried, instantly drawing Apollonius’s attention.

Coronis screamed – a high-pitched shriek that had Percy slamming his palms against his ears.

And threw herself at Apollonius.

The wall, perhaps spelled to repel spirits or perhaps it was merely a remnant of her soul’s belief that humans couldn’t cross ten-foot tall obstacles of mud and wood plastered with tiles, crushed her nose.

But for a few fraught seconds, Apollonius and Coronis shared the same space, breathed the same air, and might as well have been the same people.

‘Kill him, kill him, kill him,’ Coronis chanted.

“Who are you?” Apollonius whispered again, eyes glowing with the impending signs of a magical outburst.

“I’m, I’m Percy,” Percy stuttered. “And that’s Coronis. I just woke up in her body. And ... and I think she’s dead. She's dead and this isn’t real, and I just want to wake up.”

‘Kill him, he hurt Galene, he’s going to hurt everyone,’ Coronis pleaded.  

“An eidolon,” Apollonius concluded.

“No, this is a Mist illusion,” Percy corrected like a broken tape recorder.

He hoped this was an illusion.

The alternative was too terrible to contemplate.

“An illusion, you say?” Apollonius asked, voice a strange sort of dispassionate that made Percy wary.

“Yes.”

'Please, you must stop him. I can’t. I tried, but I just pass through him. It's my body but he keeps doing terrible things with it!’ Coronis cried out, lying without shame.

Percy glared at her, and indirectly, at Apollonius too. Percy had committed only one terrible act with Coronis’s hands, and even then, had he but known Galene was the shade of loyal who would let her mistress kill her, he would have simply insisted harder that she leave the room.

But he hadn’t known. Because he wasn’t Coronis. Even though he’d displaced her from her own body and replaced her with no one the wiser, which he supposed gave her ample reason to claim he’d committed atrocities.

He'd stolen her body.

Except this was an illusion so no one had stolen anything.

Apollonius blinked before his drawn-up shoulders relaxed into a loose-limbed fighter’s stance. He smiled. “Illusion, delusion, or displacement – there's a very simple way to find out.”

***

Because most of the comments on Coronis on AO3 seem to be how much people dislike her - as far as she knows, she got murdered so Percy could steal her body, seduce a god with her body, then cheat on Apollo so obviously that he kills her and sends her father to Tartarus. And, even if she were to withhold judgment because he doesn't particularly want to do this, Percy goes and nearly kills the woman who might as well be an aunt. Percy is the villain in her story, and if she must get her body made permanently beyond habitation, then that's what she will do. Because that's what heroes do. Sacrifice themselves to protect others.

***

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[iveneverdoneanythingwrong]

Liveblogging Man Suang

First things first - outrage at Not-Mile who dares put his hands on Apo. Who the fuck do you think you- oh good, he's dead. Though, this is obviously something Khem expects and is used to. The touching, not the murder.

Wan, leave that knife in. Wan, don't take that knife out. Okaaaay, he took the knife out. Khem, at least don't be holding the murder weapon when- *sigh* never mind. Jesus fuck, Khem and Wan are not the sharpest crayons in the box, are they?

"You were caught red handed next to my nephew's body!" Only literally! I mean, technically correct. And in this instance, not the best kind of correct. :(

I love the costuming

Ohh hellooooo. Also, girrrl what are YOU doing at the devil's sacrament?

You met him thirty seconds ago and you're already showing him your pussy? Chatra, you slut.

Hey. HEY! Lord Not-Chatra. Stop looking at him like that. I swear, Khem is to higher-social-standing men like Will Graham is to serial killers. Where's the Chesapeake Chatra when you need him?

Montage time!

Khem. Sweetie. Honey. You need to be more subtle if you're going to be a spy....

Apo is so pretty when he cries. 😭

YEAH YOU TELL HIM KHEM! Calling out the double standards! Also, that dude is totes jealous he didn't catch Lord Not-Chatra's attention...

Chatra gives you one warning and then it's a FIST TO THE FACE.

Are they on a date? They're totally on a date.

This is a very important secret. So I'm telling you, a guy I've spoken to four times, on our first date, at a table at the corner of an intersection with open doors and people all around. Very important. Top Secret.

I love the sheer disappointment and disbelief in Khem's voice. Khem: A treasure trove? Really? That's what you're going with? Chatra: Why are you laughing?

Khem, you're such a hothead. You got into a KITE FIGHT. But it is a great excuse for Chatra to grope your waist. Well done.

At least Khem tells his secret up a tree and not on a LITERAL STREET CORNER.

Can't rid yourself of being a lowborn? *looks at the camera like it's The Office*

Me: I'm laughing with Khem cause a treasure map is stupid. Me five minutes later: wait, you bought that??? Chatra: Wait, he bought that? Oh man, this pretty idiot desperately needs my help...

Me (And Chatra definitely): My god, look at his face transform into a smile... do it again! again!

Khem: I have something to tell you... .... ... I've invited Chatra to join our missionWAN:ARE YOUFUCKING CRAZY???

I love the reconstruction sequence. That's some good storytelling.

HAHAHAHAHA "If you don't believe me, feel free to search my rooms!" Wan: Oh...I don't think that's nec- Chatra: DON'T MIND IF I DO. "Maybe you need to search me. I'll undress" Khem: NO THANK YOU WE'RE GOOD.

Ok... do you think that's enough food for three people? I think we might need to get another table of food in here...

What.... what are you doing Chatra. Like... my man has to have a good reason to point a gun at Khem... but there are no good reasons to point a gun at Khem.... but my man has to have a good reason to....KHEM LET HIM EXPLAIN

Ahhh Hong, I knew he wasn't dead. I knew it! I did! Oooh an assassin's teapot. Nice.

Yeah, old man! I agree!

Goddamned Apo is so goddamned pretty.

Oh damn. Risking your life to save your friend... and ending up having to kill him yourself. What a gut punch.

Aww Chatra. I'm not crying, you're crying!

Where's the series? I need the series now! Where is ittttttt???? 😭😭😭😭😭 You can't leave my boys like this!! 😭😭😭